Inking system for surface-decorating machines



Aug. 29, 1939. E. w. HAMANT 'INKING SYSTEM FOR SURFACE-DECORATINGMACHINES Filed Sept. 3, 1937 2 Sheets-*Sheet 1`ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff l ,L 7, ATTORNEYS Aug. 29, 1939. E.w. HAMANT INKING SYSTEM FOR SURFACE-DECORATING MACHINES Filed Sept. 3,1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hg. u

INVENTOR. BY Eph/MP5 WHAMA/YT fsa@ M ParsifalA Aug. 29, 1939 *UNITEDSTATES INKINGi` SYSTEM FOR SURFACE-DECORAT- ING MACHINES Edward WilliamHamant, Dayton, Ohio, assigner to Oxford Varnish Corporation, Detroit,Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application September 6 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to a surface decorating mechanism andespecially to a ink or pigment system for such a decorating mechanism.

The subject matter of the present application 6 is disclosed but notclaimed in Patent No.

2,096,731, issued October 26, 1937.

The 'general object of the present invention is to provide an improvedink or pigment system for a surface decorating mechanism, such as, for

10 instance, a graining machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedscraper or doctor blade mounting and operating mechanism, so arranged 15that the Scrapers or doctor blades may be quickly tive printing memberswithout disturbing the relationship of the scrapers, one to the other,and may be simultaneously adjusted relative to the printing mechanism.

A further object of this invention is the provision of an improvedpigment or ink recirculating system and an improved operating mechanismtherefor.

Other objects of the invention will become more apparent fromthe'following description, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, in which there is shown a preferred form ofmechanism for carrying out the invention. The essential features of theinvention will be summarized in the claims. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is,a substantially horizontal section through a decorating mechanism,illustrating the relationship between my improved scraper mechanism fora pattern cylinder and an offset printing member; Fig. 2 is a verticalsection through the scraping mechanism, as *indicated by the lines 2--2on Fig. l; Fig. 3 is an elevation of thescraping mechanism, the variousprinting members being omitted from the' view; Fig. 4 is a sideelevation, the decorating mechanism illustrating the pigmentcirculating. system; Fig. 5 isa sectional detail. illustrating `the'pig'- ment pump. Y

The pigment system with which thist invention is particularly concerned,is illustrated in the drawings as applied to a decorating machine of thetype illustrated and claimed in the copending application heretoforereferred to. This decorating mechanism is especially adapted for windowframes by an offset printing process.

However, it will become obvious that the present invention may be usedwith other types of -de 55 corating mechanisms. as well as to decorate'variand easily moved from contact with their respec the application of adecorative coating to metallic frames, such as sheet-metal automotivevehicle` 3, 1937, Serial No. 162,264

ous types and shapes of articles of manufacture.

The 'decorative mechanism shown in the drawings comprises apatterncylinder l0, having mounted thereon a pattern Il. The pattern ispreferably a intaglio printing plate cylinder having a continuous designetched therein. A coating of ink or graining paste is applied to thepattern and is forced into the depressions therein and the excess ink orpaste is removed by the scraping mechanism with which the presentinvention is concerned, leaving only such pigment on the pattern asremains in the depressions in the plate. .Mounted adjacent the patternroll l are a pair of spaced rollers Il and I5, around which extends atransfer member i6 in the form of a continuous ilexible loop or belt.

This transfer' member may be made of the usual glue and glycerincompound and is in' tegrally mounted on a. flexible base' I'l, thearrangement being such that as the rollers il and l rotate in thedirection of the arrows shown in Fig. 1, the ink in the depressions inthe pattern will be transferred to the offset printing'belt I6 and fromthere, to the work W.

The pattern roll I0 and the oiset belt supporting rollers Il and I5 aremounted on respective shaftsjlB, I9 and 20. The shaft IB is journalledin frame members 2l, while the offset belt supporting roll shafts arejournalled in a subframe 22, which is carried by the frame 2l, as shownin the copending application heretofore referred to.

The pattern Il `may be inked by a mechanism such as that shown anddescribed in Patent No. 1,997,612, issued to Oxford Varnish Corporation,April 16th, 1935, and reference to such patent may be had for a detaileddescription of such mechanism. Suffice it here to say that` such inkingmechanism comprises a vertically extending tube 30, in which is mounteda conveyorscrew 3 l. The lower end of the tube is arranged to projectinto a reservoir 38 and is provided with an opening topermit ink to bedrawn upwardly by the screw from the reservoir. The tube 3|! ispositioned adjacent and parallel with the surface of the pattern il, asindicated in Fig. 1, thus the ink drawn upwardly from the reservoir isfed out of a port or opening 31, and falls downwardly along the patternVI I. V

The pattern roll shaft Il and the offset roll shaft I9 are provided withgears 32 and 33, respectively. These gears are driven by a'power shaftthrough suitable gearing 35. Secured to the upper end of the ink feedscrew 3l is a Cil gear 32, thus driving the various mechanisms lnsynchronism with each other.

The ink or graining paste which is applied to the pattern II by the inkvsupply mechanism is spread and the excessink or paste is removed fromthe pattern I I by a scraper mechanism with which this invention isparticularly concerned. As shown, the scraper mechanism comprises a pairof doctor Ablades 50 and 5I, the former coacting with the pattern II andthe latter coacting With the transfer web or belt I6. Each of thesedoctor blades is secured to a vertically extendng mounting plate 52.These mounting plates are provided with inwardly extending ears 54adjacent their top and bottom ends, which are rotatably and slidablymounted on a shaft 55, which is secured to a bracket 56 by a set screw41. as at 41, to the frame 2|, which supports the pattern roll, and issecured in an adjusted position thereonby a set screw 48, which passesthrough an elongated opening 49 in the base of the bracket 56 and isthreadingly secured to the frame 2|. Thus, by moving the bracket 56, therelative position between the pattern roll and the doctor blade 50, aswell as the position between the offset web and the doctor blade 5I, isreadily adjusted.

Normally, the doctor blades 50 and 5I are maintained in contact with thepattern I I and the transfer belt I6, respectively, by a spring 60,interposed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, between the two blade mountings62. However, when the decorating mechanism is inactive, these blades maybe manually swung out of contact ywith their respective elements by therocking of a lever 6I. This lever is secured to a shaft 62, carried inan upstanding ear 63 of the bracket 56, and has secured to its inner enda cam in the form of a lever 65. This lever, ateach of its outermostends, is provided with a roller 66, which, when the lever 6I is swung,engages the respective doctor blade mounting 52, thus urging them apartagainst the action of the spring, vand bringing the doctor blades intothe position indicated in Fig. 1, wherein they are separated from thepattern II and the web I 6, respectively. Upon the return of the lever6I, the doctor blades both return to their active positions. y

' The adjustment of the pressure of the doctor blades 50 on the patternis accomplished by swinging the bracket 56 relative to the frame 2|,This likewise simultaneously adjusts the pressure between the doctorblades 5| and the work 52. A separate adjustment, however, is providedso that the blades may be adjusted relative to each other. As shown,each blade is clamped to its bracket 52'by a clamping bar 58. vThisbaris held in position by set screws 59, which pass through the ar, andthrough slotted openings in the doctor blades and are threadinglysecured to t respective brackets.

'Ihus it will be seen that both doctor blades may be adjusted relativeto the pattern and to the transfer belt', and they may be moved out ofcontact with such members without interfering with the adjustment. Thesedoctor blades may also be moved bodily as a unit, together with theirsupporting bracketaway from the pattern and transfer beit,thus'preventing inada vertent contact when the machine is to be idle,

over extended periods of time. Likewise, the arrangement'is such thatthe doctor blades, their mounting and certain operating mechanism may beremoved as a unit-from the machine, thus 'I'he bracket 56 is pivotallymounted,`

facilitating the replacement of such units as well as facilitating thecleansing of the machine and the doctor blade unit.

Excessive wear on either the offset web I6 or the pattern II and thedoctor blades 50 and 5I is prevented by reciprocating the bladesvertically along the axis of their shaft 55. As shown, the doctor blademountings 52 slidably embraces the shaft 55 and are normally urgeddownwardly to\ Ward the bracket 56, by a coil spring 10, which isinterposed between the uppermost blade mounting 52 and an enlarged headformation 1I of the shaft 55. Slidably mounted in the bracket 56 are apair of pins 13, which are secured to a block 14 which is slidablymounted on the lower end of the shaft 55 and underlies the bracket 56.

A roller 15 is carried by the block 64, and, when A the scrapermechanism is in an active position, is engaged by a lever 80, pivoted asat 3|, to an ear 82 formed on the frame 2| of the decorating unit. Thislever is rocked by a cam 83, carried by a gear 84, which is mounted onthe framel 2| and which is driven by a pinion 85 secured to the patternroll shaft I8. 'Ihe cam 83 coacts with a roller 36 securedv to the innerend of the lever 80, thus swinging the lever about its pivot and causingthe reciprocation of the scraper blade.

Ink removed by the doctor blades falls by gravity onto an inclinedsurface 2 Ia of the frame 2| and thence through a passageway 90, into atrough or pan 9|, which, as shown in Fig. 4, is supported beneath and'bythe frame 2|, From the pan SII the ink s returned to the reservoir 38 bya pump |00.

The ink or pigment pump |00 is best illustrated slightly less indiameter than the internal diameter of the tube |04. A spring IIOnormally maintains the ball |09 in its lowermost position.

The lower pump tube |05 embraces the tube |04 and its lower end isnormally closed by a spring-pressed ball III. When, however, the tube|05 is raised relative to the tube |04, ink trapped between the twoballs I09vand III forces the`ball |09 upward, compressing the spring II0 and permitting such ink to enter the tube |04. When the tube |05 ismoved downward relative to the tube |04, the spring IIO causes the ball|09 to close the passageway between the tubes |04 and |05, and causes apartial vacuum to be created in the tube I 05. When, however, the ballIII engages the bottom wall of the pan 9 I, this partial vacuum causesthe ink in such pan to flow into the tube |05. Thus it Will be seen thatconstant reciprocation of the tube |05 relative to the tube |04 willcause the ink to be drawn upward from the pan 9| and returned to thereservoir 38.

The pump tube |05 is reciprocated by the cam 83 Iheretofore described.As illustrated in Fig. 5. the tube |05 is connected by a link I| 2 withone arm of a bell crank II3, the other arm of which is provided with aroller II4. This roller is maintained in contact with the cam 83 by aspring II5, which is interposed between the bell crank and the pumpsupport II1, which is removably secured to the frame 2|.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that there is provided acompact inking system, including an improved doctor blade mechanism,which may be removed as a unit from the machine and an improved inkcirculating unit including the ink reservoir, the ink pan, therecirculating part which likewise are removable as a unit from themachine, and they are each supported by the pump support. Likewise, theink feed screw is readily removed by releasing its clamp II8 (Fig. 5).Therefore, the inking system is easily cleansed or removed and a newsystem substituted therefore, thereby facilitating the change of colorsand permitting' the previous inking system to be thoroughly cleansedwhile the machine is in operation using a replacement system.

I claim:

1. In a surface decorating machine, a pattern, means to supply color tothe pattern, scraping means coacting with said pattern to remove surpluscolor therefrom, an offset printing member arranged to remove theremaining color from the pattern roller and transfer it to the work by arolling action, a scraper to remove any color remaining on said memberafter the pattern has been transferred from the work, a support for bothScrapers, means to move each scraper relative to said support and out ofcontact with the pattern and member respectively, means to remove saidsupport and scrapers as a unit away from their coacting members.

2. A surface decorating machine, a pattern roll member, means to supplycolor to the pattern roll, a scraper coacting with said roll to removesulplus color therefrom, an oi-set printing member in the form of acontinuous flexible band and arranged to remove a design in color fromthe pattern roll and transfer such design to a workpiece by a -ro11ingaction, a second scraper arranged to remove the color remaining on saidmember after the design has been transferred from the work, a commonsupport for both Scrapers, means to simultaneously move each scraperrelative to said support and out of contact with the roll and memberrespectively, means to move each scraper relative to each other andrelative to said support and means to move,said support and Scrapers asa unit away from their coacting members.

3. In a surface decorating machine, a pattern roll, means to supplycolor to said roll, a pair of spaced rollers having their axessubstantially parallel with the axis of said roll, an offset membercomprising a continuous belt looped around said rollers, one ot saidrollers supporting the belt adjacent the pattern roll and the other ofsaid rollers supporting the belt for cooperation with a workpiece, apair of doctor blades, one of said blades engaging the pattern roll toremove excess color therefrom, the other of said blades engaging thebelt in a region supported by one of said rollers to remove any ink fromthe belt remaining thereon after the work is decorated, a common supportfor said blades, means to move said blades relative to each other andsaid support, means to reciprocate said blades in a direction parallelwith the axis of said roll, and a pivotal and removableconnection'between said support and the decorating machine whereby saidblades and support may be moved as a unit relative to said roll and saidrollers.-

4. In a surface decorating machine, a pattern roll, a reservoir adaptedto contain a supply of fluid decorating material, means to remove fluidfrom the reservoir and 'apply it to the pattern, a scraper means toremove excess material from the `pattern, a receptacle to receive suchremoved material and means including a pump operated by the patternroller to remove the material from the receptacle and return it to thereservoir.

5. In a surface decorating machine, a pattern roller, a cam operatedthereby, a reservoir adapted to contain asupply of iiuid decoratingmaterial, a pump to remove fluid from the reservoir and apply it to thepattern, a scraper to remove excess material from the pattern, areceptacle in to which such removed material may flow by gravity 'andmeans including a second pump operated by said cam to remove thematerial from the receptacle and return it to the reservoir.

6.In a surface decorating machine, a' frame, a pattern roll supportedthereby, an offset printing member supported thereby, means removablysecured to said frame to supply ink to said roll, a pair of doctorblades to remove excess ink from the pattern roll and from the offsetprinting member respectively, and means securing said

